Seven Self-Compassionate Strategies to Experience Sadness

Seven Self-Compassionate Strategies to Experience Sadness

Many of us have a hard time experiencing sadness. We ignore it, hoping it’ll go away. Or we stuff it down with unhealthy habits.

“Sadness hurts!” said Polly Campbell, author of Imperfect Spirituality: Extraordinary Enlightenment for Ordinary People. “Studies show it can even cause physical pain and heartache.” Sadness also is a vulnerable feeling, said psychotherapist Joyce Marter, LCPC. We may not want to experience it, because it’s connected to deeper-seated feelings of grief and loss, she said. For instance, one client couldn’t process her feelings about a breakup, because it meant tapping into her sorrow about her parents’ separation. However, you can ease into experiencing your sadness. Here are seven self-compassionate suggestions.